The last few years of student government has seen an incredible variety of leaders. We have had a Student Body King crowned on the steps of the Main Building and declare that everyone bow to him in greeting. We have had candidates win under slogans such as "Bring the [Grateful] Dead to campus," and serious competition from "Kill the swans!" We've seen inept and unethical presidents blasted in national news wires as they faced ethics hearings and petitions of recall. We've even seen (and this is truly scandalous!) the successful implementation of a senate made up of democratically elected representatives to serve the students' interest.

At the same time as this radical form of government was implemented, the duties of all student government officers were redefined. The role of student policy makers (who wrestle with administrators, represent the students and allocate our money) and student programmers (who coordinate concerts, An Tostal and other entertainment events) was divided. The Senate is invested with the responsibilities of leadership, and Executive Cabinet groups (CCC, HPC, SUB and class officers) take care of the fun stuff.

Despite this plethora of politicians, with a clear separation of powers, there is a perennial concern among some voters that student government is a clique that serves only its own interests and that the solution is to send in a few "outsiders" to break it up.

Unfortunately, the result of this effort has consistently been the election of "outsiders" who just bring in their own cliques. Then it seems we've been duped back to square one.

Just consider what happened a couple years a go when junior class officer Matt Griffin was elected student body president over senator Matt Szabo. No fewer than 19 ethical violations, a recall petition and a $25,000 debt left from turning the President's Office into a private party marked that year.

The true solution seems obvious: Elect a ticket that's had enough experience as representative leaders. They should also know both how to get things done and how to bring in people from all over campus to work with. Striking examples of ideal presidential candidates have popped up in recent years: former vice-president Megan Murray, '98, former chief of staff and reformer Brendan Kelly, '98, and two-time senator and chief of staff Matt Mamak, '00.

Unfortunately, none of these ideal presidents even ran for the office.

What qualities did these people have that made them so ideal? All of them served on the Senate and either in the Office of the President or the Executive Cabinet. All of them had experience on the Campus Life Council. They all knew how to deal with the administration, and though diplomatic, all were rarely seen as conciliatory when it came to defending the students' issues. They were true enough politicians that they wouldn't turn student government into a private clique.

So, if students take the lessons of the past with them this year, we won't have to worry about it next year, and we can actually see student government accomplish all the things of our wildest dreams. Well, that, or at least keep out of trouble.

• Beware of the swans